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NEWS AND NOTES:

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-Arizona closed out Alabama in Phoenix last night after taking control of the second half as they picked up the 87-74 win. Alabama has fallen to 6-5, but that record is more of an indication of how strong their schedule has been than it is anything else. I still think the Tide are a good team that will be really strong in the SEC and who will easily make it into the NCAA Tournament.

-UConn was expected to cruise past Seton Hall despite being the road team, but instead were beaten rather handily by the Pirates 75-60 in their Big East opener. Seton Hall improves to 8-4 and now has a highly impressive win on their resume to go along with that record. UConn, who had looked fantastic in virtually every game they had played prior to this one, is obviously still in good shape, but it was a little surprising to see them get beat like they did and to see Seton Hall in complete control late in the game.

-North Carolina handed Oklahoma their first loss of the season with a very impressive 81-69 win in Charlotte. The game was sort of in UNC’s back yard, but it was still an impressive showing by a Tarheels team that has looked really good all year long. I’ve been critical of them in years past, but am all in on them this year.

-Baylor suffered their second straight loss as they fell 78-70 to Duke in Madison Square Garden. I’m still big on this Baylor team, but while their losses have come against strong opponents, they haven’t looked quite as good in either game as we were expecting them to. Still, they looked a lot better last night than they did in the blowout loss to Michigan State. As for the Blue Devils, this was perhaps their biggest single win of the season to date, and it will really help boost the value of their resume.

-Villanova got a HUGE 68-66 win at Creighton last night in their Big East opener. If you take out the Big Five losses to Drexel, Penn, and Saint Joe’s, Nova has looked like a protected seed! Creighton has lost two of their last three, but is still in relatively good shape given how strong their schedule has been.

-Saint John’s beat Xavier rather comfortably 81-66. The Johnnies are now 8-3 on the year and are starting to make a case that they are an NCAA Tournament caliber team. They’ve still got work to do, but they’ve put it within reach.

-Northwestern beat Arizona State 65-46 and didn’t really even need to break a sweat to do it. Outside of the very out-of-character loss to Chicago State, this Northwestern team has looked like a top 25 team all season long, and definitely looked like one last night.

-New Mexico improved to 11-1 with their 78-65 win over UC Irvine. For the Eaters it was a chance to pick up the kind of win that could help land them inside the bubble if they blew through the Big West, but then didn’t win the conference tournament. As for New Mexico, they are off to a very good start of the second year in a row and are definitely a team to pay attention to as they head into Mountain West play.

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HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-NEVADA VS TEMPLE (Diamond Head Classic). Nevada has an impressive 9-1 record and is coming off a nice win at Hawaii (who they may see again in this event). Still, they don’t have any huge wins on their resume so they need to keep stringing wins like this one together. Picking up some more wins away from home in this event should help.

-TCU VS OLD DOMINION (Diamond Head Classic). TCU is 8-1, but their schedule has been among the weakest in the nation and nearly every win has been a home buy game against an exceptionally weak UTR team. This event will at least allow them the opportunity to pick up some wins away from home.

-KENTUCKY AT LOUISVILLE. This has historically been a bitter rivalry, but it has also been such a mismatch these last two years that a lot of the heat has been taken out of it. Kentucky is starting to play better and better, but this is their first true road game, so a win today would give their resume something that they don’t yet have. Louisville is 5-6 and already has more wins than they had a year ago, but they’ve all been home buy games. While Louisville is at home tonight, Kentucky is a lot better than the kinds of teams they’ve beaten up to this point.

-SAINT JOSEPH’S AT CHARLESTON. Joe’s is having an amazing year so far with a 9-2 record, but this is still a big game because it would be just their second true road win of the season, and Charleston is not an easy team to beat on the road. Joe’s is good enough to land inside the bubble, but their margin for error is a little smaller given the conference that they play in. They just don’t get the opportunities at big wins that can offset bad losses.

-WICHITA STATE VS KANSAS STATE (Kansas City MO). Wichita State is off to a respectable 8-3 start, but there isn’t anything on their resume yet to indicate that they are a top 40 caliber team that can land inside the bubble. A win in a game like this could change that. K State is coming off a somewhat surprising home loss to Nebraska, but they still have a solid resume and look like the kind of team that will make the NCAA Tournament, so this would be a huge statement win in a bit of a showcase game (at least regionally) for Wichita State.

-STANFORD AT SAN DIEGO STATE. San Diego State should be able to hold serve at home in this one and get to 10-2 on the year. Stanford is a respectable 5-4, but getting this win on the road is probably over their heads.

-KENT STATE AT OREGON. This match-up is interesting. Oregon is likely a tournament caliber team, but they need to hold serve in games like this in order to sustain their resume. Kent State comes in at 7-3 and has shown they can play at a high level, and a road win like this would really help their resume and would be something that jumps out at the committee as a high caliber win, so it’s a big opportunity for the Golden Flashes.

-GEORGIA TECH VS UMASS (Diamond Head Classic). GA Tech has some decent wins this season, and at 6-3 is much better than we were expecting. They haven’t been that good away from home, though. This event gives them the opportunity to pick up some wins away from home against competition that isn’t exactly top-25-caliber, but is still respectable.

-BOISE STATE VS WASHINGTON STATE (Spokane WA). This isn’t a true road game, but it’s still a test for a Boise State team that’s 8-3 and looking to get some notable wins on their resume. The crowd should be partial toward Wazzu, who comes in at 8-2. Both teams have nice records, but both could use some meat on their profiles, and this would be a nice win for whichever team is able to pull it off.

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES/BUY GAMES:

-UT Arlington @ Texas Tech – A win for TX Tech gets them to 9-2 on the year
-Alcorn State @ George Washington – GW’s resume is still a little flimsy, but their overall record is good and a win today gets them to 10-2 overall
-Virginia-Lynchburg (nonD1) @ UNC Greensboro
-Presbyterian @ Wake Forest
-Northern Colorado @ Air Force (Front Range) – We at Hoops HD LOVE the Front Range!! A win for AFA gets them to a very respectable 8-4 on the year
-Niagara @ Syracuse
-American @ Virginia Tech – I’m starting to like this VA Tech team more and more
-Lehigh @ Boston College
-New Orleans @ Ohio State
-Jacksonville @ Purdue
-Tarlton State @ Tennessee – Tarlton State is having a good year, especially for a transitional team, but they’re likely going to be way overmatched tonight
-Gardner Webb @ Akron – Akron needs to keep stringing together wins
-Stony Brook @ Michigan State – Michigan State got off to a very slow start, but appears to be hitting their stride
-Abilene Christian @ Arkansas – Arkansas has a lot of talent, but they sometimes take their opponents for granted, and they don’t want to do that tonight
-Utah Tech @ Colorado
-UNC Wilmington @ Marshall – a win for UNCW gets them to 9-2 on the year, and also gives them their 5th true road win
-UNC Asheville @ Appalachian State – App State is Hot! Hot! Hot! They are actually good enough to land inside the bubble, but they need to keep holding serve in games like this
-Florida A&M @ UCF
-Texas State @ Houston
-Stonehill @ Miami FL
-Ball State @ Minnesota – Minnesota is 8-3, but seven of those wins came in home buy games and Ball State is a lot better than most of the teams they’ve been playing
-Eastern Illinois @ Iowa State
-North Alabama @ Indiana
-Eastern Washington @ Washington – Washington continues to string together wins
-Northern Kentucky @ Saint Mary’s
-Portland @ Hawaii (Diamond Head Classic)

NEWS AND NOTES:

-Providence got an extremely impressive win over a Marquette team that we have all been saying can go to the Final Four. The Friars were at home, but they held a lead pretty much throughout and finished off a very impressive 72-57 win. It’s hard to not think of the Friars as a tournament caliber team now as they improve to 10-2 and add a very impressive win to their profile.

-Memphis followed up their big win against Clemson with another big win against Virginia. This one was a blowout. It was a game in the first half, but not in the second half. UVA’s defense didn’t bother the Tigers at all as they rolled 77-54, and this should help move the Tigers up the rankings and up the seedlist.

-Indiana is now 8-3, but they once again had to sweat out another home buy game. They actually trailed by 15 with less than 10 minutes to go against Morehead State, but closed on a 20-4 run to barely escape with a 69-68 win. Minus the close loss to Kansas (which was, after all, a loss) Hoosiers might be the least impressive 8-3 P5 team I have ever seen. Four of their wins were close home buy games, and another win was a close game against Louisville, which is basically like a home buy games.

-Western Carolina is now 9-2 after edging out a struggling Vanderbilt team on the road 63-62. It’s the 5th true road win for the Catamounts, and they will be a fun team to watch in the SoCon this year.

-Florida needed two overtimes to get by Michigan 106-101. Michigan had looked sluggish for most of the year, but played really well yesterday against a Gator team that’s pretty good. Still, the Wolverines are just 6-6 and need to start stringing together wins if they want to build up their resume.

-UCLA was a team I praised before the season started. Then after the season started I continued to praise them despite some early and hard fought losses in Maui. UCLA is now just 5-5 after their 76-72 loss to Cal State Northridge last night. I am no longer praising them. CSN, on the other hand, is now 8-3 on the year and will definitely be worth paying attention to as they go through Big West play.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-CONNECTICUT AT SETON HALL (Big East). UConn has looked as good as anyone in the country this year whereas Seton Hall has struggled some, but the Hall are coming off a nice win against Missouri and should have some momentum and confidence coming into this one tonight.

-BAYLOR VS DUKE (New York NY). Baylor has just one loss, but it was in their last game and they were blown off the floor by a Michigan State team that’s been struggling for most of the year, so that raises some red flags as the Bears head into another really big test tonight. Duke is still in the rankings at 7-3, but their best win to date is probably that same Michigan State team we mentioned earlier that has struggles so much, so they could really use this one tonight.

-XAVIER AT SAINT JOHN’S (Big East). The Johnnies are a respectable 7-3 on the year, but they don’t have a lot of meat on their resume yet and need to hold serve in a game like this.

-PURDUE FORT WAYNE AT PITTSBURGH. This is a buy game, but PFW is coming in with an 11-1 record and Pitt, while respectable at 8-3, still doesn’t have a win on their resume that will jump out at the committee or a game that has demonstrated that they are a solid tournament-caliber team. They could be tested more than what they’re expecting tonight, so they don’t want to overlook PFW.

-NORTHWESTERN VS ARIZONA STATE (Hall of Fame Series, Phoenix AZ). Northwestern already has the big win against Purdue on their resume, and they’ve also struggled at times this year. They dropped a home game to Chicago State and didn’t exactly put DePaul away in their last game. They should get this one tonight, but Arizona State is a lot better than either Chicago State or DePaul.

-NORTH CAROLINA VS OKLAHOMA (Jumpman Invitational, Charlotte NC). Oklahoma is unbeaten, and while they’ve taken some little tests this is a HUGE test against a UNC team that’s not a true road game, but still in front of a crowd that will very much favor the Tarheels. This is a big game for North Carolina as well. This is their third straight game against a top ten team, and they’ve lost the other two, so a win tonight would give their profile a boost and give them some of their momentum back.

-VILLANOVA AT CREIGHTON (Big East). This is an interesting conference opener for both teams. Nova has been wildly inconsistent this year. They have wins away from home against North Carolina and Memphis, but have also managed losses to teams like Drexel and Penn. This is their first game in over 11 days, and it is a big test against a Creighton team that’s highly ranked and that just picked up a nice win against Alabama.

-UC IRVINE AT NEW MEXICO. UC Irvine is 7-4 on the year and just snapped a three game losing streak, but those three losses were at Duquesne, at Utah State, and at San Diego State, all by 10pts or less. They do have a win at USC, but USC has not emerged as a strong team yet and that win has lost some of its sparkle. At 10-1, New Mexico has shown they can play, but hasn’t had any massively big wins yet and barely escaped an upset loss to New Mexico State in their last game. Both teams could really use this one. If UCI can get this one on the road and then blow through the Big West then they should get a serious look from the committee.

-ALABAMA VS ARIZONA (Hall of Fame Classic, Phoenix AZ). Alabama is a modest 6-4, but they’ve played a really tough schedule and I think they’re better than what their record may indicate. Having said that, they’re probably not good enough to beat an Arizona team that’s in contention for a #1 seed. Arizona lost to Purdue in their last game, but that’s hardly a setback. They should be able to get it done tonight in front of a crowd that will likely favor them.

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES/BUY GAMES:

-Saint Louis @ NC State – A win for NC St gets them to 8-3 on the year, but they still have work to do
-Oakland @ Dayton – a win for the Flyers gets them to 9-2 and keeps them inside our bubble
-North Dakota @ Nebraska – Nebraska can improve to 10-2 with a win tonight
-Tennessee Tech @ Evansville – The Aces are off to a very good 9-2 start and have another winnable one at home tonight
-Sam Houston @ Grand Canyon – The Lopes are on a roll and can get to 10-1 with a win tonight
-Jackson State @ Gonzaga
-Bellarmine @ Utah

NEWS AND NOTES:

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-Duquesne held off Bradly 69-67 at home last night, which in and of itself isn’t really impressive or noteworthy. Duquesne probably won’t land inside the bubble, but they are 8-2 on the year. They were my preseason pick to win the Atlantic 10, and while I’ve walked that back given how well Saint Joseph’s and Dayton have been playing, the fact that Duquesne is 8-2 against ANYBODY is a story in and of itself. Last year we talked about how much fun it was to watch Fordham. This year’s story out of this league is Duquesne. They haven’t had a season this good in at least the last thirty years.

-Chicago State has now won four of their last five, all of which were D1 games, after beating UTRGV last night 78-68. Can the Northeast Conference just invite them to play in the conference tournament this year?? Hell, the NEC has teams in it that aren’t eligible for an NCAA Tournament bid! Why not invite another soon-to-be member that IS eligible for it!!??

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-GEORGETOWN AT BUTLER (Big East). Butler is off to a much better than expected 9-2 start, and one of those losses was a competitive game against Florida Atlantic. They’re at home against a Georgetown team that has improved quite a bit and is 7-4 overall, but still has a long way to go. It should be a somewhat routine win tonight for the Bulldogs at home.

-VIRGINIA AT MEMPHIS. Virginia just barely escaped a really big upset in their last game against Northeastern and will need to play much better on the road today against a Memphis team that has looked good all year, has a few nice wins on their resume, and that has cracked the rankings. A win in this one would look good on either team’s resume.

-UNC GREENSBORO AT HIGH POINT. A really strong UTR match-up between a UNCG team that has an outside shot at landing inside the bubble if they can blow through the rest of their schedule, and a High Point team that has been playing really well lately and that won’t be easy to beat at home. This one should be fun!

-WESTERN CAROLINA AT VANDERBILT. WCU is off to a much better than expected start at 8-2 and they may be able to pick up their fifth true road win of the year tonight, which is something to pay attention to.

-FLORIDA VS MICHIGAN (Jumpman Invitational, Charlotte). Michigan has had moments of looking like a good team, but only moments. Overall they’re just 6-5 with a blah resume that they need to build up by stringing together some wins. The Gators have looked better, but still have some room to improve and a win like this on a neutral floor would help.

-MARQUETTE AT PROVIDENCE (Big East). It’s the conference opener for both teams. Providence has been better than expected this year, and they’re at home, but even when you take both of those things into consideration this is still a game Marquette should win. They’re high in the rankings and a legit Final Four contender.

OTHER NOTABLE GAMES/BUY GAMES:

-Morehead State @ Indiana – Indiana has looked sort of ‘meh’ all season long, but they did look good in their last game against Kansas despite the loss
-Coppin State @ Games Madison
-Troy @ Ole Miss – Ole Miss should be able to stay unbeaten
-USC @ Alabama State – USC has been somewhat disappointing this year, but this SHOULD be an easy road win for them, which would be their first of the year
-Tennessee State @ Indiana State – Indiana State can improve to 11-1 and it’s time that the country start paying more attention to them
-Winthrop @ South Carolina – Winthrop is a pretty decent team out of the Big South, but this should still be a rather routine win for what’s looking like a really good South Carolina team
-Bridgewater College (nonD1) @ George Mason
-Merrimack @ Cincinnati – Cincinnati is 8-2, but 6 of those wins were home buy games
-Alcorn State @ Drake – a win for Drake gets them to 11-1
-Saint Katherine (nond1) @ San Diego State
-Middle Tennessee @ Saint Mary’s
-Cal State Northridge @ UCLA